Deathscapes

Ward 6b

Chronic Failures of the Justice System

The Coroner’s Inquiry in 2009 into Mr Ward’s death in custody exposed chronic failings in the justice system. The origins of these failings go back to the nineteenth century, when normal judicial processes were suspended specifically for Aboriginal people. The fundamental principle for equality before the law was removed and the denial of justice to one group of people undermined the whole system. Racially discriminatory legislation was repealed in the early 1970s, but after four decades of formal equality Aboriginal people continue to be the ones most disadvantaged by structural racism. (Skyring, Justice, 385).